DSL Telecom - Blog #advancedfeatures

How we hacked team collaboration using Zoho Cliq

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 09:44:11 +0200

Zoho Cliq has been an indispensable part of our team's collaboration since the Covid-19 pandemic started. With only a week's notice to a national lockdown, we needed a team communication platform that would allow our teams to communicate seamlessly while being remote.

Zoho Cliq is a business messaging tool that lets teams communicate in real time. Members can create channels for specific projects or teams and make audio and video calls to work more productively with their teams.

Making the choice to use Zoho Cliq as our internal communication platform has vastly benefited our team. It simplified our team communication in the middle of a global crisis. With organised conversations, easy-to-access information and integrating Zoho Cliq to the tools we love, we were able to not only maintain but double our team's productivity.

In this blog, we’ve highlighted some tips that DSL Telecom effectively used with Zoho Cliq to collaborate better. Take a look at our foolproof tips to master effective team collaboration.

Tip #1:

We easily scheduled daily morning and afternoon calls with our teams to stay updated with our projects and productivity.

Every day our team members need to collaborate on projects. Using Cliq, we can easily make a call directly from any personal chat or group chat. For an even stronger team collaboration, we can easily share our screen in the call! This enables us to keep everyone on the same page at all times.

Tip #2:

We created a team-wide channel called #MarketingSuggestions - dedicated to sharing marketing ideas, tips and recommendations.

Using Cliq enables us to streamline our discussions with Channels — a smart, transparent space for synchronous team collaboration. Channels is a great way for our team to make sure our projects and topic ideas, resources and work aligns with our teammates, ensuring that our projects are successfully executed.

Tip #3:

We have preset presence updates to let our teammates know when we are available to collaborate.

Zoho Cliq gives users a good view of who's available, away, or currently in a meeting. Be more efficient with your time by knowing if your team members are available to have a discussion, if they're in a meeting or away from their workspace.

Tip #4:

We use reminders to stay up to date and never miss important messages.

We stay on top of important messages and requests by setting in-chat reminders. This way, Cliq will make sure we never accidentally let something important slip away, while at the same time, organising messages for an easy view of what is important to you.

Tip #5:

We easily organise and stay on top of our messages with Zoho Cliq's message staring feature.

You can bookmark or save important messages, images and videos by starring them in a relevant category that can be accessed anytime.

★ Important ★ To-Do ★ Note ★ Boss ★ Follow-Up

Tip #6:

We continue to build our company culture through lively conversations using Zomojis and GIFs

Something as simple as sharing GIFs and reacting to a message with Zomojis brings your team together, letting your team members know what you think. GIFs are known to be an effective and creative way to communicate and engage.

Tip #7:

We are able to keep up with our teammates on the go

Cliq is available on mobile and tablet devices, in iOS and Android operating systems. Chat your way to productive business communication, wherever you are, on any device.

Transform your team's collaboration with Zoho Cliq

Working remotely shouldn't take away all the little quirks you enjoy about working in the office. From getting into work and greeting your co-workers, to being able to easily check if someone is available for a discussion and taking a quick coffee break together, Cliq's remote work capabilities make sure you don't miss out on the little things.

If you're interested in Zoho Cliq, reach out to DSL Telecom, a Zoho Consulting Partner by clicking the "Speak to a Zoho Expert" button below.

Start Your Free Trial Today

Speak to a Zoho Expert

Zoho Mail Review: Uncover the most affordable email hosting software in South Africa

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 16:24:19 +0200

Zoho mail is the perfect application for businesses and professionals looking for an email platform that is ad-free, minimalist, and full of features. Zoho Mail is enhanced with collaboration features and promises a fast and clean experience, as well as features that will improve productivity within your business. There is no need to deal with software upgrades and you can enjoy control of your inbox.

In this Zoho Mail review, we’ve explored every aspect of this excellent email provider, and present you with everything you need to know to help you make a buying decision. Ultimately, Zoho Mail targets business users of all sizes, and it offers impressive value for money

The top 5 features

Those who use Zoho Mail will benefit from a range of powerful features. As a leading professional email provider, it naturally comes with the expected email management tools, including spam filters, mobile apps, and mail filters.

1. Advanced search features

Zoho Mail's advanced search lets you quickly find the email you're looking for, even if it's buried in your inbox. That elusive email from someone you might of received 7 months ago? No problem. You can search by as many details as you know; if you're looking for a message in your Clients folder, between May 1st and May 20th, with attachments, containing the word "proposal," we've got you covered.

If you find yourself for emails from a colleague everyday, you are able to save the search. Next time you want those emails, all you have to do is click the saved search to see the results.

2. Stream your conversations for better collaboration

Say goodbye to cluttered inboxes and hello to coversations.

Change the way you communicate across your team. Fewer email threads and more social media style conversations. You are able to hang out with your team, be more productive and collaborate better. Make announcements, assign tasks, create events, or share notes with your teammates. Like, comment, or share—do it social-media style.

3. Attachment Viewer - no more searching for attachments

Having all your attachments organised by type, in one spot, means no more hunting for files. Preview, share, upload to the cloud, or send it again. You are able to do more with your attachments.

If you are struggling to find your attachment, the filter tools are there to help. You are able to perform actions directly from the attachment viewer using variety of options.

4. Advanced filtering

Set up filters or rules to automatically organise your emails and rest easy knowing that incoming emails will be right where you want them to be.

Filters also help automate certain actions like creating a task from an email, auto-forward certain emails based on conditions to a specific email address etc.

5. Access anywhere, including offline

Offline email for uninterrupted emailing. Since work often extends beyond the walls of your office, your email access shouldn't depend entirely on Wi-Fi connectivity. Zoho mail's offline email mode ensures uninterrupted and secure email storage, no matter where you are.

All your recent email conversations are available offline.
Zoho mail saves your replies in your outbox to automatically send as soon as you go back online.
Draft replies and create email templates in Offline email mode, which is then synced instantly once you are connected to the internet again.

The Zoho Mail suite of apps

Zoho Mail enables users to do so much more than just check their emails. For example, the Zoho Mail interface includes a calendar, notes, task manager, and contact portal. A range of collaboration tools are also available to help your team work more efficiently

Calendar: Events can turn chaotic if not properly organised. By using the Calendar in Zoho Mail you are able to create and keep track of your events. You can add colours to make your events stand out and set reminders to be notified through email or pop-up when an event is starting.

Tasks: Completing a set of small tasks is always easier than tackling one big project. The Tasks module in Zoho Mail helps you break down your work and create manageable task schedules. You are able to create tasks, assign due dates, set up notifications and email reminders and assign group members to specific tasks

Notes: Annotation helps you keep your thoughts in order. Add virtual sticky notes in the color of your choice with the Notes module in Zoho Mail. You can share your sticky note with others as an email.

Contacts bundled with your inbox: Organise all your contacts in one place. Your organisation address book and auto-fill come in handy when sending emails or looking up contacts.

The packages

Small businesses and individual users can take advantage of Zoho Mail’s free forever plan. It can be used by up to five people with 5GB of storage per user and a 25MB attachment limit. However, it’s limited to web access and can only be used with a single domain.

Those with more advanced requirements can upgrade to a paid plan. The Mail Lite plan costs just R15.00 per user billed annually and includes multiple domain hosting, among a suite of other tools. A Mail Premium subscription costs R60.00 per user billed annually and comes with a selection of more powerful features such as email backup and significantly larger attachments. Finally, those who plan on using multiple Zoho apps will benefit from great discounts with a Workplace subscription (starts from R45.00 per user per month).

A 15-day free trial is also available with the Mail Workplace plan, enabling you to test it before committing for any length of time.

Access Zoho Mail Free Trial

The support

Looking for a little help? We've got you covered. Connect with DSL Telecom's & Zoho's award-winning customer success and support teams for expert guidance.

Here are the 4 main support channels that we offer to help you:

#1 DSL Telecom self-service 👉 Free articles and blogs: https://www.dsltelecom.co.za/blogs/post/DSL-Telecoms-support-channels-for-Zoho-Software

#2 Zoho Mail self-service & support 👉 Live chats, Email, Community and Resources. Email: support@zohomail.com

#3 DSL Telecom local ticketing support 👉 https://support.zoho.com/portal/dsltelecomsupport/en/newticket

#4 DSL Telecom Customer Success Plans 👉 https://customersuccess.dsltelecom.co.za/

The verdict

Overall, Zoho Mail is a great professional email provider with advanced features and a user-friendly interface. A resource-rich free forever plan is available, and the paid plans are very competitively priced. Setting up a Zoho Mail account is simple, and the email client itself performs very well. All things considered, this program is well suited to all user types, from individuals to large businesses.

Watch our YouTube video showcasing Zoho Mail top tips for working effectively and collaborating seamlessly with your team members 👉 https://youtu.be/RgcYu77o5Z4

DSL Telecom is a Zoho Premium Partner in South Africa, if you need to speak to one of our Zoho Experts about Zoho Mail for your business, email us on sales@dsltelecom.co.za